ing off of the gas. A portion of this gas may also be advantageously employed in making the bleaching liquor used in an after process, which is also a novel feature in such manufacture.

A pair of leaden pumps g, g, with leaden clacks, wooden plungers, and packed either with hemp or India-rubber, are to be employed for exhausting a portion of the gas from the cistern or chamber e, e, and impregnating limewater, contained in the reservoir or vessel h, h, therewith, which will also be found to make sufficient bleaching liquor from the waste or superfluous gas, after the rags have been fully gased as usual.

The second part of the improvements is effected by immersing the half stuff, as-it is taken from the gas-chest, in a stone cistern, with false bottom, containing a weak solution of lime and water. The rags should be well stirred up whilst being placed in the solution, when they must stand from one to two hours; clean water must now be turned in at top, and a valve opened below, in order to drain or wash the rags entirely free from any lime or gas, which washing through should continue an hour and a half. The gas will thus be completely destroyed, and the rags or half stuff be ready for bowking or immersion in the bleaching liquor; and it will be found, that the rags, prepared in this manner, only require half the time in bowking that is usually taken. If it is preferred, this process of destroying the gas may be performed in the rag-engine instead of an independent cistern, but this extra employment of machinery is not requisite.

The third part of the invention will be clearly explained by reference to figs. 2 and 3. Fig. 2, represents a side elevation of the improved finishing apparatus, attached to a paper-machine, the end of the framing and last drying cylinder of which is shewn at a, a, a. The improvements consist in the application of one, two, or more, pairs of friction-bowls, or rollers b, b, b, worked with a felt or cloth, or without, geared with the machine, and having a changewheel attached, so that any requisite amount of friction can be given to the surface of the paper, passing between

them, by driving the upper bowls from three to six or more revolutions per minute faster than the lower bowls; this must be regulated according to the finish required upon the surface of the paper, which is represented at c, c, passing from the drying cylinder a, to the paper-roll d. Fig. 3, represents another arrangement or modification of a similar finishing apparatus, but with three pairs of bowls instead of two.

The patentee claims, firstly, the production or manufacture of the "bleaching powder" and "bleaching liquor," commonly used in the first or early process of paper manufacture, by the application, employment, or use of the waste or superfluous gas, after the common gasing process has been fully performed; secondly,—destroying the gas in the rags or "half stuff," by the immersion of them in a weak solution of lime and water, preparatory to the "bowking" or bleaching process, whether such immersion is performed in the common rag-engine, or in a separate and independent cistern; and lastly,-the application of friction-rollers or bowls to the end of a Fourdrinier's machine, as shewn in the drawings, for the purpose of finishing the paper by friction, such rollers, or bowls, being made of steel, chilled iron, or other metal or material.-[Inrolled in the Petty Bag Office, July, 1842.]

Specification drawn by Messrs. Newton and Son.

To SAMUEL HARDMAN, of Farnworth, near Bolton, in the county of Lancaster, spindle and fly-maker, for his invention of certain improvements in machinery or apparatus for roving or slubbing cotton and other fibrous substances. -[Sealed 27th August, 1841.]

THESE improvements in machinery or apparatus, for roving and slubbing cotton and other fibrous substances, apply solely to the flyer, usually employed in that description of roving and slubbing machine, now denominated presserframes. It is well known to persons conversant with cotton preparing machinery, that these machines are so called,

in consequence of one arm of the flyer being provided with a small presser lever, for the purpose of laying the roving in a firm and compact state; and have been almost universally adopted, in consequence of their advantages over the former roving and slubbing machinery.

In slubbing and roving presser-machines, it is a most desirable object to run the spindle, with a regular steadiness, throughout the entire formation of the bobbin of rovings, but with the ordinary presser-flyer this is impossible; for, as the roving accumulates on the bobbin, and its diameter increases, the equilibrium of the spindle and flyer becomes destroyed, as the flyer is only provided with the presser-lever on one side or arm; and the greater the expansion of the presser-lever, the more unsteady the spindle becomes.

The present improvement is intended entirely to obviate this imperfection; it consists in furnishing each arm, or side, of the flyer, with a presser lever, so that the flyer is at all times balanced, and the action upon the accumulating diameter of the bobbin perfectly equalized; consequently, as the bobbin increases in diameter, both the pressers, on the sides or arms of the flyer, expand simultaneously, and in similar proportions, so that the spindle is thus kept perfectly steady throughout.

In Plate IV., fig. 1, represents a front view, and fig. 2, a side view of the improved flyer, with spindle and bobbin complete, as it may be supposed to have been removed from a roving-frame. a, a, is the spindle; b, b, the flyer, both arms of which are similarly formed, and furnished with a presser-lever c, c. These levers are made to act against the bobbin or roving d, d, by means of the springs e, e, attached to the arms of the flyer.

The patentee claims the application and use of two pressers or levers (one attached to each arm or side) to the flyers used, or employed, in machines for roving and slubbing cotton and other fibrous substances, which he denominates a "double presser-flyer."-[Inrolled in the Petty Bag Office, February, 1842.]

Specification drawn by Messrs. Newton and Son.

TO THOMAS WATERHOUSE, of Edgley, in the county of Chester, manufacturer, for a certain improvement or improvements in machinery for carding cotton, wool, flax, silk, and similar fibrous material.—[Sealed 24th May, 1842.]

THIS invention consists in the application of certain rods, or straight-edges, to the ordinary carding-engine, by which the carding, or work performed, is said to be improved.

In that class of carding-engines, where top-rollers and clearers are employed, either in conjunction with, or without, top-cards or flats, the material, in the process of carding, is retained on the roller by the rod or straight-edge, as hereafter described, and subjected to a carding or combing action, which does not take place in the ordinary arrangement, when this part of the improvements is not applied.

In Plate IV., fig. 1, represents a side view of a cardingengine, with the ordinary flats or top-cards a, the main cylinder A, and two revolving top-cards в, provided with clearers or swifts b. Fig. 2, is an enlarged section of these parts, to which the improvements are applied. Supposing the carding-engine to be in action, the various cylinders will revolve in the direction of the arrows, and the cotton, or other fibrous material, will proceed round the revolving rollers B, in the direction of their rotation, until it is stript off by the clearer or swift b, and delivered again to the main cylinder A. The direction in which the cotton, &c., commonly passes from the roller B, to the clearer b, is shewn by the dotted line, at 2b, fig. 2; in this case, carding-cylinder в, is merely cleared by the clearer b, and the cotton is delivered to the main cylinder a, in a similar state to that in which it was received from the roller B. The bar or straight-edge c, which is seen, in section, at figs. 1 and 2, passes the whole length of the roller B, and clearer b, and is supported, at each extremity, by the framing of the machine. The sectional form of the rod is circular, but it may be flat, with a circular edge, or tapering like a wedge, with the thinner end rounded, or of any other suitable form. The diameter of the rod, or thickness of its

the

edge, should be adapted to suit the length of the fibre, or staple, of the material to be carded, which any person, practically acquainted with carding, will readily discover.

By the application of this bar, or straight-edge, and in the position described, the cotton, or other fibrous material, in the process of carding, is held in the card, on the roller B, until it has passed under the rod c, or straight-edge, when it is taken up by the swift or clearer b, which, in addition to clearing the fibrous materials from the cardingroller B, cards or combs it, inasmuch as it is seized by the clearer b, before the fibre is free of the card, on the roller B.

A modification, of this part of the invention, is seen at fig. 3, where the clearer b, is represented at the opposite side of the roller B, to that seen at fig. 2; by which arrangement, the same or similar results are, or may be, obtained.

The next improvement consists in the introduction of a bar, or straight-edge, between the ordinary licker-in and dirt-roller, or clearer; by means of which, the cotton, or other fibrous material, is more effectually cleared of motes, and other injurious matter, before it is delivered to the main cylinder, than heretofore. Fig. 3, represents a section of the main cylinder A, with the licker-in o, placed in the ordinary position. Below the licker-in is placed the dirt-roller P, which revolves slowly, and has a constant tendency to strip, or clear, the licker-in, while the straightedge c, which, in this arrangement, comes in close contact with the cards on the dirt-roller, allows the licker-in to retake the cotton, or other fibrous material, freed from motes and dirt, and deliver it to the main cylinder A. In this figure, it will be observed, that the rod, or straight-edge c, is formed to cover the side of the dirt-roller P, nearest the main cylinder, so as to prevent any dirt escaping to the main cylinder.

The patentee claims the application of a bar, or straightedge, between the clearer or swift b, and the carding-roller B, together with a similar application of a bar, or straightedge, between the licker-in o, and dirt-roller P, as set forth and described at figs. 1, 2, and 3.—[Inrolled in the Inrolment Office, November, 1842.]